Doing Right by Risotto

No fancy gear or special training required: Producing stellar risotto is simply a matter of listening to your rice

By

Aleksandra Crapanzano

Updated Jan. 31, 2014 6:41 p.m. ET

CERTAIN FOODS BEG to be cooked to music. Risotto is one. Get a rhythm going, and all that stirring takes on a new dimension. A little dancing, some backup vocals and suddenly 20 minutes have vanished, and you've built up an appetite for the fabulously guilty, carb-loaded, butter-fattened, Parmesan-laced pleasure ahead of you.

There are those who presume that some magic—or at least years of tutelage at a nonna's side—is required to pull off a just-so risotto: a little creamy or soupy, depending on the recipe, but still...